De La Salle baseball beats Foothill 1-0 to reach NCS Division I final

CONCORD -- Making just his second start of the season, Austin Dondanville pitched a two-hit shutout to lift the De La Salle High baseball team to a 1-0 win over Foothill and into the North Coast Section Division I championship game for a fourth straight season.

Falcons' starter Jake Wilgus was just as dominant in the semifinal game between East Bay Athletic League foes on Wednesday, allowing only three hits in a complete game effort.

But two of those hits came back-to-back, allowing De La Salle (20-7) to tally the only run of the game with two outs in the fifth inning. Myles Coston doubled and scored on Blake Ogburn's pinch hit single.

The only other hit Wilgus allowed was a two-out single to Chris Williams in the fourth.

Dondanville also had a no-hitter going until the late innings, losing it on Ryan Anderson's single down the left field line in the sixth.

"Honestly I wasn't paying attention to that," Dondanville said of the no-hit bid. "I was just waiting for some offense."

Dondanville, the Spartans' regular third baseman who has mostly pitched in relief this year, gave up a leadoff single to Ryan Probst in the seventh. Probst advanced to third after a sacrifice and deep fly out, but Dondanville induced a popup to end the threat and the game.

"The kids really believe in him," De La Salle coach David Jeans said of his senior pitcher. "He throws three pitches for a strike, he's just an all-around great kid. He's a senior leadership guy."

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Neither pitcher issued a walk, though Wilgus hit a batter.

Foothill (15-12) did have a handful of baserunners in the early innings thanks to four De La Salle errors, but couldn't capitalize.

De La Salle and Foothill split their regular season series with the Falcons winning the more recent matchup, a 14-inning marathon in which Dondanville gave up the winning runs.